These are strange and troubling times for Australian cricket. There are so many questions to be asked. What’s going on with the Test team? Who should be in? Who should be out?
Is the real Australian team the one that squeaked home in Jo’burg and crushed the Kiwis in Brisbane, or the one that fell apart like wet tissues in Cape Town and Hobart?
Are we on the way up, or still bottoming out? How do you hit a ball that is unsporting enough to actually move sideways before it gets to you? How do you mend a broken heart?
And so on, and so forth. Confusion and uncertainty reign.
But nowhere do confusion and uncertainty reign more than in the upcoming Big Bash League.
I’ve been thinking about this brave new world Cricket Australia is ushering in, and in thinking about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know what to think about it.
It is not that I hate Twenty20 cricket. The last four Tests Australia has played have shown that Test cricket is without peer when it comes to skill, drama, tension, intrigue and excitement.
I am not one of those hidebound traditionalists who thinks that T20 cricket was spawned from the loins of Satan and essentially everything’s been going downhill since they legalised overarm bowling.
I quite enjoy a bit of T20 action, it’s good clean fun and it keeps the kids off the street. I fully accept its place in the modern game.
But this Big Bash . . . I dunno. I can’t quite get a handle on it.
I’m looking forward to it, I suppose? Kind of? It’s . . . exciting? A bit? Maybe?
I’m not sure, and I wish to goodness someone would tell me how to feel, because I simply cannot determine it for myself.
OK, first there’s the matter of the players. We all know Shane Warne is coming back for the competition, bacon rolls permitting _ and that is, frankly, weird and disturbing, especially since the BBL has been scheduled smack bang in the middle of his gradual physical transformation into a triffid.
But OK, we’ve processed it, let’s move on.
So . . . Matthew Hayden too? What? And Brad Hogg? Wasn’t Brad Hogg about 50 years old even when he was playing for Australia?
And Brett Lee is there too, probably still thinking he can get back in the Test team if he just relaxes and hits a consistent line and length.
Why are you doing this, Brett? Isn’t it time you settled down and focused on your music career?
But OK, so we’ve brought back a few great Aussie stars of the past to pep things up a bit. Fair enough. And oh, Paul Collingwood too. No, seriously, you are taking the piss.
But more worrying than the elaborate prank that is the BBL playing roster is the matter of the teams.
What is it that causes us to form an attachment to a team? Where, in essence, do teams come from?
They used to be defined by their place of origin: a team represented a town or an area, and the inhabitants got behind their local team.
And yes, if the team was successful, it expanded far beyond that area: Collingwood neither plays nor trains in Collingwood any more, and if all their members actually entered the suburb at the same time it’d look like a zombie apocalypse; but still the club comes from Collingwood: it has roots.
What are the roots of these Big Bash teams?
Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart, of course, are kind of OK _ they’re one-team towns, so residents can just get behind that one team.
But I have a problem.
I can support a team from my home town of Sydney, or my adopted home of Melbourne. But there are two in each city, and I can’t see the point of difference that allows me to pick which one to follow.
Of course, as a five-year-old I chose to follow the Balmain rugby league team for a very simple reason: I liked tigers.
But using that system now runs into two problems: it’s a really stupid way to pick a team; and the names of the BBL teams are even stupider.
The Sydney Thunder? What does that even mean? You’ve named a cricket team after a natural phenomenon that actually puts a stop to play when it occurs?
What are the individual players called? Thunderettes? Raindrops?
Or should I back the Sydney Sixers? What is a sixer? A player who hits sixes?
Well, that seems a bit redundant. Everyone’s going to be trying to hit sixes, aren’t they?
Maybe the Sixers guarantee sixes: maybe we can get our money back if they score in any other denomination.
Or perhaps the name is more esoteric, referring to the players’ height, or age, or the founding of the club during the San Francisco fire of 1906. God only knows.
So maybe I’ll have to back Melbourne.
The Melbourne Stars? Frankly, that just seems boastful. We will be the judges of whether you are stars, thank you very much.
You Stars are just as bad as the Melbourne Victory.
And like the Victory, you will play alongside another Melbourne team with no particular reason for existing, and confuse fans as to which Melbourne they belong to (and incidentally, “Melbourne Heart” is possibly the worst name any team in any sport has ever had anywhere – they sound like they were founded by Care Bears).
That team would be the Melbourne Renegades. What are they rebelling against? Whaddya got?
I don’t know if I can back the Renegades – I don’t know if their reckless disregard for authority is what I’m looking for in a sporting team.
What if they are so renegade-ish that they refuse to turn up to matches because they’re smoking behind the toilets? What if they quit cricket to ride a motorbike across the country, solving crimes?
What exactly does “Renegade” signify?
Do they play by different rules from the other teams? Will they hold their bats backwards?
It’s all just so odd and confusing and artificial.
Can we get behind these strange hotch-potch teams, drawing players from interstate, out of their state teams, which they left their original state to play for in the first place?
Ed Cowan is from NSW, he went to play for Tasmania, but for a few weeks he’ll play for Sydney, and oh, I don’t know. Whatever, I guess.
In the end, it probably doesn’t even matter.
There’ll be fast bowling, and people will hit the ball into the crowd, and there’ll be music and fireworks and dancing and some kind of competition where if you catch a six you win a romantic dinner with Andrew McDonald.
I guess we have to be content with the spectacle, which should be . . . spectacular.
But I don’t know. Will any of it be real?
Ben Pobjie
Expert
I guess I'm the Stars then? Although sometimes I feel I'm closer to Hobart...
Ben Pobjie
Expert
CA pay for me? Hehe Rabbitz, you're funny.
adam214
Guest
The strikers for me because i'm an south australian but it does gall me to see graham manou and shaun tait play for the vics. but but but........kieron 'the man' pollard is coming back to south australia he's almost an adopted south australian. I guess the chance to beat the vics more often can't be a bad thing.
Brett McKay
Expert
Thankfully Matt, that didn't play out... "Right, the results are in & the winner of my #BBL support on opening weekend is ..... @RenegadesBBL!! Got in 12 minutes before @ThunderBBL.." "Notable mention 1: to the @SixersBBL PR peeps who told each other to "get onto" my challenge, but never actually got onto hitting 'Follow'.." "Notable mention 2: to @StarsBBL no.1 fan @stuartfaz & CEO @ClintCooper for personally welcoming me but also airswinging on the Follow.." "Also, a name and shame for @HeatBBL @ScorchersBBL @StrikersBBL & @HurricanesBBL for not even playing the game. BOO!! #BBLchallenge"
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
Like it or not, the BBL teams have pulled off a few coups, Warne in Melbourne, Hayden in Brisbane - these guys are huge amongst cricket followers in their states - and the Heat are promoting the hell out of their clash between Hayden and Warne - who are fresh from the IPL and more or less attuned to 20/20 now. Im not opposed to international test stars prolonging careers by playing in the BBL, not at all. Its great to see these guys on our radar again.
Al from ctown
Guest
Meh, it's sport and I pay for fox to watch sport primarily... So why not. But I'd rather watch a test match. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Simmo I don't really know one way or the other - but I will say this: the old BBL started as a bit of a lark, and before anyone really understood what was going on, crowds of 30,000 were turning up to games, and somewhere along the line, the penny has dropped at CA. I think anything is possible.
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
I think when it comes to new ventures, it is difficult to build widespread interest before the event itself because it does not have a legacy to fall back on that initiates interest. The litmus test will be tomorrow night and to see how many come to the SCG to see the Sixers play Brisbane. I feel the BBL is far different from the IPL, because what the IPL did that generated massive buzz was to hold a public auction that basically sold off cricketers like cattle to various franchises. To be honest, I was more interested in the auction than the actual cricket played. Four years later, I have no doubt that someone like Mike Hussey has some loyalty to the Chennai Super Kings, because he has enjoyed a significant time there and probably has forged new friendships and experiences. So in that sense, the true health of the BBL won't be known until maybe 2015. Personally, I hope this infatuation CA has with the BBL dies down so it is held during February and March when the Test series is over and that it coincides with the ODI portion of the international summer. That would serve us far better than what we currently have, when Test aspirants have nothing but T20 to make their case for a baggy green...
Simmo
Guest
"The emphasis put on staging games during the holiday period is a big factor that will get kids harassing their mums and dads to take them out to the cricket." Well that's no different to what the old BBL was doing. If the new BBL is to do well there will have to be a very large surge in interest over the next few weeks because the anticipation and excitement levels even up to today, the day before the league starts, have been remarkably low.
Vas Venkatramani
Roar Guru
I dont know Simmo. The emphasis put on staging games during the holiday period is a big factor that will get kids harassing their mums and dads to take them out to the cricket. CA are giving the BBL the kind of attention the Shield deserves, as I wrote in my article http://www.theroar.com.au/2011/03/01/the-downfall-of-discipline/ back in March. Why play the Shield when you can take the easy way? That's what every bit of society is doing to us now, to teach us that hard graft and determination are old-fashioned values that are no longer needed in a world where you can have fame for being completely ordinary...
Simmo
Guest
I just went and looked for that Age article and it's quite a surprising prediction from Cricket Victoria given how little interest there's been in the BBL in the lead-up. CA might be doing its best to promote the comp but the internet forums are almost silent on the subject. On top of the lack of discussion, most people have been critical of the league's image and purpose. My prediction: the new BBL won't be any more succesful than the old BBL - in short, CA will have wasted lots of money trying to set up a broken concept that the Cricket public wasn't particularly interested in.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I don't want to alarm people, but someone in the Age reckons there is a possibility that one of the Melbourne teams in the opening round of the BBL will get a larger attendance than the first day of the Boxing day test - not sure how accurate that is, let's see how it unfolds. The two melbourne teams playing at two different grounds does allow for a sort of split, and someone has suggested the SE vs NW split, with the MCC members predominantly coming from the SE, being Hawthorn and Melbourne supporters, who own chalets and ski in Winter, while the socially disenfranchised, impoverished Melburnians with poor dental hygiene come from the NW. That's one way to look at it.
Matt F
Guest
It cold be the ultimate rejection if none of them follow you..... ;)
Will Sinclair
Guest
By the way - I find the IPL and the BBL etc a bit scary. Honestly, how far away are we from having all the top players "retiring" from Test cricket so they can sell themselves to the highest bidder 8 months of the year, and spend the rest of their time living like a king??? I really think it's a bit scary.
Will Sinclair
Guest
"I'm not feeling it. But I will still watch." King - that sums me up too. I don't really care, but it's on, and it's sport... and, well, there is not much else on... and I'm a bit of a sporting tragic so... yeah OK I'll watch. Is that enough though? I really don't know.
King of the Gorgonites
Roar Guru
Im not feeling it. but i will still watch. the sydney sides should have been distinguished a bit better. like the western sydney side should have had that made clear in its name.
Ben Carter
Roar Guru
Hi TB - love the idea of keeping T20 as a domestic-level event. To me, international T20s are merely warm-up games for a one-day series...
Sports Writer
Guest
The BBL is exactly that...a spectacle. Let's hope people do not mistake it for a genuine sporting contest
The Barry
Roar Guru
I'm easy going about the T20 I'll see how it goes. Close T20 games are good but I find the majority are half a game and more boring than any other form. Hard to get passionate about it - Thunder or Sixers...hmmm. I see that Dravid has suggested that T20s be scrapped at international level and remain as 'club' or franchise comps around the world. I like that idea in principle, I think at T20 level you want to see the best exponents rather than 11 players squeezed into a national team. Does anyone swell with Nationalistic pride when we win a T20 game ? I can't stand the relatively recent phenomenon of teams named after weather terminology or emotions. Storm, Thunder, Heat, Heart, Victory, Roar, etc. You can probably add the American team names like Titans, Broncos, Giants to that list as well. Keep it Australian - cockatoos, dingos, galahs, tassie devils, thylacines, diprotodons...
Stuart Fazakerley
Roar Rookie
I chose the Stars because I have MCC and get in for free. Easy call. I was originally dead against it, but have softened my view of late. It's just a bit of fun. The Bushrangers still exist for the big stuff which is all that matters. And at least the marketing folks didn't mess up the Melbourne teams as bad as they did the Sydney teams. The Sydney Sixers are the most awful abomination of a marketing exercise ever created.